Lectra: Color From Forecast to Finished Product
NEW YORK—Pantone set the color forecast for Winter 2012/2013, and Lectra brought it into the supply chain.
At a Nov. 2 seminar hosted by French software and machinery maker Lectra at Parsons The New School of Design in New York, Pantone Vice President Laurie Pressman presented Pantone’s 2012/2013 color forecast for fashion and home.
The theme of Winter 2012/1013 is “refocus,” which is a departure from“mindless spending.” Home and stability take on added value. There will be a shift to the “rural rather than urban.” Sustainability remains important and encompasses many things, including eco themes, organic materials, home-grown products and sustainable practices.
She then joined a panel of experts to discuss strategies for maintaining color consistency across a global supply chain.
Keith Hoover, director of quality and testing for JCPenney, started the conversation by discussing his company’s Color Accreditation Program (CAP), which gives the mills tools to measure color accuracy and acceptable variances in color.
Hoover relayed an anecdote about an overseas mill that boasted about sending 3,000 lab dips a day. Using the CAP system, JCPenney has eliminated the lab-dip process among the 71 mills that have been certified since the program launched three years ago.
“We no longer do lab dips. We go straight to production,” Hoover said. “Instead of looking at lab dips, we went to the mills and looked at [whether they] could create colors consistently.”
For large retailers and companies with many divisions, the challenge is to set a palette that will work across many divisions and products.
Each season, Walmart sets about three key colors that appear in 35 color palettes.“We have so many brands and such a breadth of assortment, we’ll have ranges within each color,” said Priscilla Ghaznavi, senior color and trend design manager for Walmart.
“We create a library of 4,000 colors,” she said, explaining that colors are printed on multiple fabrications. “We know what colors look like before design selects them.”
Certain colors—such as neon—are particularly difficult to convey on paper and on certain fabrications.Ghaznavi and fellow panelists Kathryn Taylor, senior enterprise color specialist for Victoria’s Secret, and Brook Skinner, director of print, color and concept for LaSenza/Limited Brands, agreed.
“Certain colors are a nightmare,” Taylor said. “Turquoise on Modal is not a problem, but on certain microfibers [you can] have a [color] migration issue.We can’t say, ’No, you can’t have these colors.’ [But] we always choose backup colors, just in case.”
Mike Fralix, president and chief executive officer of [TC]2, looked to the horizon, discussing his organization’s efforts to move beyond traditional dye processes, which use quite a bit of water.
“Our focus has been to move to a totally digital supply chain,” he said. “If you look at the whole supply chain, almost 80 percent of the water and chemicals are in one step—the dyeing. There are tremendous opportunities.”
[TC]2 is looking at a process for dyeing solid colors that would be similar to the inkjet printing process for prints. “We are working on a concept that would apply color films to fabrics digitally.”
He said you can also apply fabric properties, such as antimicrobial and wrinkle protection at that stage, too. “You could eliminate water and reduce inventory,” he explained.
After the seminar, Fralix noted that this process is still in the very early investigatory stage.
Pantone’s Color Story
Pantone’s Winter 2012/2013 palettes range from saturated, vivid brights to moody, “grayed” shades and earth-inspired neutrals.
Trends include:
bull;Lodestar—vivid and vibrant tones, iridescent surfaces, cellophane finishes, color on animal skins and suede, color degradation, patchwork.
bull;Composed—nuanced colors with roots in menswear.
bull;Blended—layered color and materials, folds and drapes, handcrafted finishes.
bull;Submerge—an “underwater garden of salty and grayed-down blues,” accents of saturated brights, dip dyes, sculpted shapes, hidden patterns.
bull;Radiate—bright and happy colors, geometric shapes on textures, glittery and shine, silky, fluid fabrics, and soft velvets.
bull;Touchtone—“honest, humble, discreet and noble,” inspired by wood, earth, stone and leather, as well as quilting and pattern effects.
bull;Aperture—science and technology providing a “new way of looking at the universe,” dark tones “disturbed by acidic green and acidic pink,” inflated volumes, monochromatic looks,aged and cork-like textures, soft angora, mohair.
bull;Converge—brighter shades mixed with relaxing and pale shades, copper surfaces, metallic details, oxidized looks.
bull;Peripheral—“uncomplicated colors to build complex forms,” geometric patterns, carved or faceted appearance, jewel-like, mosaic designs, pleats, and folds.
Pressman also discussed the 2011 color of the year—honeysuckle, a rich, cheerful pink—and how Pantone determines its annual shade, the color and the trend.
Pantone gathers information from its forecasting partners, distilling the information “down to a color family” and then choosing one shade that will work for women, men, kids and home.
“For the most part it’s a happy color. We like to stay positive,” she said, adding that Pantone has already decided the 2012 color of the year, but the company is not ready to divulge it.
“I can’t say what it is,” he said. “They would totally kill me.”
